The Investigative Brigade: Hunting Human Rights Criminals in Post-Pinochet Chile

by Pascale Bonnefoy Miralles

During the seventeen-year Pinochet dictatorship, more than three thousand Chileans were murdered or disappeared without a trace. In 1991, a year after the brutal military regime ended, the new civilian government tasked the nation's detective force to investigate these crimes. Chilean journalist Pascale Bonnefoy tells the dramatic story of the detectives who hunted down and attempted to bring human rights violators to account. Led by a tiny group called Department V, the effort took place in the context of a frail transition to democracy and while the force itself was undergoing profound reforms. With Pinochet still in charge of the army, a center-left government tested how far it could go to bring criminals to justice without risking military backlash.

To uncover this story, Bonnefoy gained the trust of detectives assigned to the cases and drew on their direct testimony. She excavated investigative files, witness testimony, and previously secret documents that helped her chronicle the dedicated brigade's dangerous mission. While substantial justice and institutional change took another decade to kick in, the detectives' work made it possible. Still unfolding, the post-Pinochet example is admired by many working for transitional justice around the globe.

334 pages, Hardcover

Published September 20, 2022

Reviews

[June García · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impresionante el trabajo de Pascale Bonnefoy. La cantidad y calidad de su investigación es alucinante, hasta un poco abrumadora. Demasiados datos, demasiadas fuentes, demasiada historia y demasiado dolor, no sé cómo lo hizo para ordenar y armar este libro. La temática me pareció una arista muy interesante y poco explorada en relación a la dictadura y los derechos humanos.

[Marilin Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente investigación de estos héroes sin capa que pese a todos los obstáculos, la corrupción, la precariedad y los fantasmas de la dictadura pudieron ayudar a hacer algo de justicia. Este libro, infravalorado, realmente cambió mi percepción sobre la PDI en Chile, me gustaría que se hiciera una película o hasta una serie porque si hay muchas buenas historias dignas de llevar a la pantalla. Esos detectives necesitan más reconocimiento. Por otro lado, qué triste fue recordar tantos casos de injusticia que sucedían en nuestras narices cuando supuestamente estábamos en democracia.

¡Gran trabajo periodístico! 👏👏👏

[Robin Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This translation is a close-in examination of the Chilean effort to bring human rights criminals to justice. Thickly detailed, Bonnefoy’s story shows the slogging, determined work of investigators, a good thing. More and more in my own thinking about human rights, I am focused on the individuals through whose work these lofty principles take human shape. Bonnefoy is a journalist and professor of journalism who does a great hob narrowing in on these fighters.

[Franco Pollarolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Muy envolvente, da cuenta de una transición oculta de las policías, de asociación ilícita y criminal a una asociación civil y democrática.